With AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. officially returning this Tuesday, March 3rd, expect a ton of interviews and tidbits to start making their way out.
In this mega post we have an interview that IGN conducted with Clark, some "spoiler room" bits from Entertainment Weekly, an interview that HitFix conducted with Chloe Bennet, and finally, an interview with the show's Executive Producers from comicbook.com.
Let's start with the interview with the Executive Producers over on ComicBook.com. Marvel and ABC invited the press to speak to cast members as well as the executive producers about what fans can expect with the second half of season two. They will be rolling out those interviews over the next few days.
In their interview with Jeph Loeb, the head of Marvel Television, and Executive Producers Jeff Bell and Jed Whedon, they talk about Ward, what Raina has become, the introduction of the Inhumans into the MCU, and a bit more.
On Raina and what's she's dealing with moving forward.
Jeffrey Bell: Raina's a character who seems to have gotten everything she every wanted through the first season-and-a-half. She successfully manipulated or moved everyone quietly, efficiently to get what she wanted. When she finally got what she wanted, it turned out to be that, which wasn't what she wanted. So we thought it was interesting to take a character who sorta had always succeeded and giving them an apparent setback and see how the character reacts in those situations.
Jed Whedon: And also she's clearly someone who feels that she always has control over any situation, partially because of her ability to charm and that's maybe taken a hit. Harder to charm when someone's like, "Ow, you're poking me."
On the introduction of the concept of Inhumans and what it means for the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Jeph Loeb: I've said this before and that is that people look at the Marvel red box and they perceive it as this giant octopus that's going to swallow up the entire galaxy. But, in fact, what we are is a very small company and that was never more clear than when we were doing "Carter" and Kevin Feige and Lou D'Esposito were actually part of that on a day-to-day basis. We talk all the time, whether it's publishing or whether it's games or it's movies or it's film and so this is just part of that process. It's very exciting for us to be able to be telling this particular story, but like with anything else, we're telling S.H.I.E.L.D. stories that existed both within the world of the movies and has its own mythology to it and opens up all kinds of doors for us. I think that's sorta the best way to look at it.
Jeffrey Bell: Piggy-backing on that, it's not so much that we have to explain it. By just having it be in our universe over time, it will become something that people understand and that resonates, so I think it's much more about that than us having to lay pipe or anything.
You can read the full interview by heading over
here.
Moving on to IGN's interview with Clark Gregg, which is a bit more informative than the rest of the interviews I've come across so far (which, given this is Marvel, isn't much):
IGN: So much happened in the midseason finale, a lot of which right now, your character is not even privy to. He didn’t see any of that…
Gregg: How do you point that out to people? [Laughs] They keep going “How does Coulson feel about Quake?” And I was like, "He doesn’t know any of that!" He doesn’t even know that she’s been transformed. They haven’t even connected these earthquakes to her yet, when we left them. So I think people can expect that the first couple episodes back, at least, are kind of about that mystery and what happened in there. How responsible is Coulson for taking her there and how responsible does she feel for Tripp’s death and how responsible does Coulson feel and what are the effects on the team?
IGN: You’re like us with this stuff! Inhumans are a huge deal and fans are really excited. Are you excited that you get to introduce this major facet into the MCU?
Gregg: I am. It’s just a part of the world that I really love. I always clicked the most with the stuff that feels the most… all my favorite sci-fi, all my favorite comics, they were always about stuff that felt like a way you could look at stuff that was too hard to look at in real life. There’s a way that stuff like the Inhumans… Whether it’s in X-Men or whether it’s inhumans, they always represented people who evolved in a different way where some of them were outcasts or treated like something was wrong with them and yet, perhaps, in many ways represented a vital new part of what we’re supposed to be. You can’t read the news or watch society change without seeing fertile ways that that represents who we are. All the ways that you watch the headlines, and people are part of super secret organizations slaughtering people on the street... It makes the kind of fight to protect us from them something that’s not just a fantasy comic world but connects to real life. Inhumans are a really important part of that for me. I’m really excited to see how they use that part of it on our show. It’s one of the things that’s fun about being on this show. When you understand what it is, you see Winter Solider and it’s “Agents of Nothing.” Right when you think you know what that is, there’s the attack at the end of the season and he can’t stop carving [symbols]. It keeps adding new elements to it. That said, we’re at nine o’clock, with a darker tone - less ICERS, more bullets. I think it’s finding its way to be more and more; its own central self that can withstand having things brought into it.
IGN: You were there at the ground floor with Iron Man, and so you saw how it grew and grew, this whole universe. Now at this point, where there’s so much -- multiple TV shows, multiple films -- is it kind of amazing for you to be able to be part of it but also be a fan and to see Agent Carter and Winter Soldier and these other things, where you’re a part of the same world?
Gregg: Absolutely. I can’t wait to see Ultron. I loved going to see Winter Soldier. Especially to go see the next chapter of a movie that I was in the first time, I love the people involved. I can’t wait to see those actors go to the next place. I love Lizzie Olsen. I’ve done a movie with her. We have some New York connections. To see some of those actors added to that mix… There was something really bonding about making the first Avengers, doing all the press for it, I can’t wait to go see that and see where it goes next. And I like that I’m still connected to it in a way. In recent months, Robert and Jeremy have been really cool about being vocal about wanting to see Coulson again whether it’s on my show or one of their little shows and I hope that comes true.
You can read that entire interview (and you should) by heading over
here.
The most interesting interview to pop up over the past couple of days has to be the one from HitFit with Chloe Bennet. It's the most interesting because HitFix has stated that Chloe did her interview with Luke Mitchell, who has recently joined the show as an Inhuman named Lincoln, but they've gone on to say that he couldn't say anything during the interview. It isn't something that should be unexpected, but it's still something that makes you more curious about Lincoln.
Here's a small bit from Chloe's interiew with HitFix:
"It’s really cool because the day I found out was the day they announced all the movies, or like the day after," Bennet recalled. "I was like, ''The Inhumans' movie? Who’s going to be in that one?!' I’m really excited. I don’t know. Obviously, I don’t know anything. If I was going to be in those, they’d tell me like the day of."
You can read the rest of the (short) interview by heading over
here.
Entertainment Weekly also revealed this little tidbit as part of their Spoiler Room Scoop (
here's the link to that):
TV Guide also posted this fun video of Clark Gregg using emojis to tease the return of the show. I can't get the video to work on Blogger for some reason, so you'll have to head over to
here to watch it.
It also looks like we now know the titles for episodes 12 through 15.
And finally, some of the cast headed out to promote the show on various talk shows. Elizabeth Henstridge stopped by Jimmy Kimmel live, where I think she was supposed to promote the show but they never really talked about the show? While Ming Na Wen stopped by The View and GMA.
Don't forget that AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. returns on Tuesday, March 3rd. As usual, I will be live-tweeting the premiere over on Twitter. Feel free to join in!
